05_120453 ch01.qxp 5/30/07 2:32 PM Page 7 Chapter 1 First Steps with Your Zune In This Chapter ᮣ Listening to, watching, and sharing your Zune ᮣ Scoring a Zune ᮣ Opening the box and charging up your new Zune ᮣ Exploring the preloaded content f you’re reading this book, then you either recently purchased a Zune or Iare seriously considering getting one. Either way, it’s time to find out what a Zune can do! In this chapter, you can take a look at what you gain when you get your hands on a Zune — or figure out how to get ahold of one if you haven’t picked one up yet. Entertainment on the Go So, the big question you’re asking yourself is this: What is this Zune thing and what can it do for me? The first thing to realize is that a Zune is so much more than just a music player; it’s a full-blown entertainment unit that has 30GB of memory and just happens to fit in your pocket. Any one of the Zune devices — they come in three different colors but are otherwise the same — is capable of doing a ton of great things right out of the box. What kinds of great things?COPYRIGHTED Well, check out this list: MATERIAL ߜ Take all your music, photos, and videos with you everywhere you go, which means you can • Store 500 hours (at standard settings) of music so that you can listen on the go. • Tune into FM radio stations, set your station presets, and even receive station information (station call letters or music format, for example) on the fly. 05_120453 ch01.qxp 5/30/07 2:32 PM Page 8 8 Part I: Getting Started • Store thousands of photos in full color so you can browse through them any time you want. (You can even start up your slideshow and flip through your photos automatically.) • Store anywhere from 30 to 100 hours (depending on your settings) worth of movies, TV shows, and other video content . and watch it all on a bright display. ߜ Hook up to Marketplace and never buy another CD again . or buy CDs and rip them to your Zune. It’s up to you! You can use any or all of these options: • Getting bored with your own music but don’t want to buy more CDs? You can subscribe to Zune Marketplace and listen to new music whenever you want for a set monthly price. • Buy songs and albums from Zune Marketplace one at a time, often for less than you’d pay for the CD in the store. • Copy your existing music, or music from new CDs you buy, right onto your Zune, and add new music whenever you get it. ߜ Share your Zune experience with your friends and family: • Use the built-in wireless features to find and connect to other nearby Zunes and share music and photos. • Fire up your Web browser and go online to check out the ever- expanding roster of Zune chat forums out there. • Hook your Zune up to a stereo system (with a mini-plug-to-RCA cable or something similar) or a set of speakers to listen to your music with your friends, or hook it up to your TV (which requires an audio/video cable) to share photos and videos. Getting Your Hands on a Zune If you haven’t already purchased your Zune, you need to make only a couple of decisions: What color should I get, and where should I buy it? The big decision: Black, white, or brown? There is currently only one Zune model, but it does come in three different colors: black, white, and brown. When you see a Zune up close and personal, though, you’ll realize that the colors are more complex than just a single tone. The outside of each Zune is actually made up of multiple layers of mate- rial. The outer layer is semitranslucent and has a slightly different color than the rest of the unit. This interesting design produces a color that changes slightly depending on the light and the angle at which you hold your Zune, an effect that many people are calling doubleshot. 05_120453 ch01.qxp 5/30/07 2:32 PM Page 9 Chapter 1: First Steps with Your Zune 9 So, technically, each and every Zune has more than one color, but you still have to decide if you’re (overall) a white, black, or brown type. Other than the color, there’s no difference in the three styles of device, so pick whichever color suits you best. Brown is a relatively unusual color for an electronic device, but perhaps that will make your Zune stand out a bit more from the other music players out there. A lot of rumors are flying around about new colors, especially pink. At the time we wrote this book, nothing had been confirmed, but check out www.zune.net (click on Meet Zune) to see if any new colors are available. Where to buy your Zune? Just like with color, where to buy your Zune isn’t a technical decision. There’s no difference between the Zunes being sold by different stores, so your deci- sion should depend on the price and the level of after-sale support that you can expect to receive. Many people avoid buying larger ticket items online, but for something in the range of a Zune, there are few worries. Personally, though, we prefer using a local chain store, such as Best Buy or Circuit City, for two main reasons: ߜ First, if something is wrong with the unit right when you open the box, you can be confident that they’ll take care of the problem without any need to call Microsoft support (and possibly having to mail the unit in to be replaced or fixed). ߜ Second, we just really like to get our purchases right into our hands when we’re buying something that we’re this excited about. (Okay, so we’re into instant gratification!) Regardless of your personal preferences about online shopping, we suggest you check out www.pricegrabber.com before you buy. On this site, you can compare the prices (including shipping and taxes) across hundreds of different online retailers. Find the best price (from a store with a high star rating and a large number of positive reviews, to be sure), and the savings might be enough to get you over any fear of online purchasing. Opening the box So you’ve bought yourself a Zune (or better yet, you’ve been given one as a gift), and you’ve ripped the shrink wrap off the funky brown box with the dis- tinctive orange bottom. Now what? Well, first, go ahead and open this thing up and take a look at what you get! 05_120453 ch01.qxp 5/30/07 2:32 PM Page 10 10 Part I: Getting Started After you have that outer layer of plastic off, you can slide the brown case up to reveal yet another funky piece of packaging, this one with the slightly hard- to-understand (but easy-to-remember) tag line, “Welcome to the Social.” Ignoring the writing for a moment, lift that front flap to expose your Zune. The device sits in a recessed pocket in the front of the package (see Figure 1-1), and you should see a small ribbon sticking out from the bottom of it. Pull carefully on that ribbon (not too hard or it will rip, and you’ll feel all sad for damaging an otherwise perfect Zune storage box), and the Zune should lift right up and out of the packaging. Now, if you check out the area to either side of where the Zune was sitting, you’ll find that two flaps open to reveal little secret compartments. On one side, you’ll find a pair of headphones, and on the other side, you’ll find a spe- cial USB cable that you’ll need to hook your Zune up to a PC. You (smart person that you are) may have spotted those pockets immedi- ately, but we know a large number of people who didn’t notice them until they were already totally frustrated from searching the package for a pair of headphones. Figure 1-1: Liberate your Zune from its cardboard confinement. 05_120453 ch01.qxp 5/30/07 2:32 PM Page 11 Chapter 1: First Steps with Your Zune 11 Now, if you look on the very top of the inner box, you’ll find an opening behind where the Zune sits, and inside that area, you’ll find ߜ A Product Guide and a Start Guide (very basic usage information) ߜ The software CD You find out all about installing and getting started with the software in Chapter 2. ߜ A sleek little bag for your Zune ߜ A Zune sticker (or not — the stickers were a limited-time item) Run outside right now and stick it on your car, or your parents’ car, or a friend’s car, or on your bike . just stick it somewhere! You can ignore almost all these goodies for now; just take out your Zune (it should be wrapped in its own plastic, so unwrap it now and peel the plastic sticker off the screen) and the headphones. It’s time to try out your new toy and see what it can do. Checking the battery Turn your Zune on by pressing the Play/Pause button (see Figure 1-2) to make the display light up.